Others said he was a hunter gatherer. Yet a five-year research project by Jim Dickson, professor of archaeobotany at the University of Glasgow, and Klaus Oeggl, professor of botany at Innsbruck University, reveals that, though Oetzi may have been remarkable in death, in life he was more ordinary. According to the Omnivorous Icemanpaper they have prepared for the Royal Society, Oetzi was an elderly, arthritic shepherd troubled by bouts of chronic diarrhoea who liked nothing better than a bit of goat and plum for tea. Their findings have shed new light on the life of the mummy but the scientists are most pleased with their ability to scotch the myth that Oetzi was a vegetarian.

``The diet is the really startling thing,'' said Dickson. Using analysis of nitrogen isotopes, scientists in America had concluded that, as Oetzi had the same level of nitrogen-15 in his body as a modern-day vegan, he was not a meat eater. However, Dickson and Oeggl discovered traces of meat in Oetzi's colon. The bones of an ibex an alpine goat were also found lying next to Oetzi.

This, coupled with other research, has prompted the scientists to conclude that he feasted on a final meal of meat, wheat, plants and plums. This settled the argument about Oetzi's eating habits: but his nationality was discovered in moss. After examining 47 samples of moss foundon Oetzi's clothes and body, Prof Dickson discovered one variety Neckera complanata found only in the southern parts of the mountains, proving that Oetzi hailed from what is now Italy. Dickson believes Oetzi must have carried the mosses up with him to high altitude where he perhaps worked as a shepherd. Oetzi was troubled by age and disease. The scientists have concluded that he was about 46 extremely old for a stone age man and he was plagued by arthritis and an intestinal infestation which would have resulted in chronic diarrhoea. Yet as Oetzi lies in the south Tyrolean museum built specially for his remains, Dickson believes he took one secret with him.

``Our studies will go on but we may never find the answer to the most important question of all: why did he die. My best guesstimate is he went up to 10,500 ft to tend his flock, was caught in an unseasonal storm, crawled into a hollow and, in his ailing condition, froze to death.''